Rumours Of War - Declaration of War (Review By Brian Curran)

 

  Brian Curran has featured on here a couple of times as a member of Scottish band Brain Anguish (https://brainanguish.bandcamp.com/releases) and he's been in several other bands (Disaffect, Debris, Quarantine, Ruin, Scatha, T.R.I.B.E.). Today he's kindly reviewed the new 4 track ep by "noisy, angry" north east of Scotland band Rumours Of War. You can find the ep here :   https://rumoursofwar.bandcamp.com/album/sloganeering-ep

  More info on them is here : https://www.facebook.com/rumoursofwar/

  Now over to Brian....

Rumours of War - Sloganeering

Rumours of war is the new band from the mind of singer songwriter Mark Ayling, or Mark A as he also goes by. If you asked me what would Mark A sound like if he had other musicians and plugged in my answer would probably be what Rumours of War sound like. I've always like what Mark does as a solo artist, so I was pretty excited to hear what he'd sound like as a band. If I would put any similarities on this I would say it reminds me of The Mob, Zounds, The Astronauts with hints of The Jam thrown in for good measure. Opening song 'Declaration of War' has all the hallmarks of traditional anarcho punk, which starts off with a catchy guitar riff that builds up and keeps marching along with a sense of urgency all the way through to a singalong chorus (well I was singing along anyway). The urgency of the music reflects the lyrics that are relevant of the current economic climate and all that is wrong with capitalism. It's a call to arms and a cry for help all at the same time as they ask what is it going to take for the people to fight back against the ruling class, which kind of highlights how fuck all has changed over the years. Second song Clean continues where Declaration of War finishes off. An upbeat song about privilege, the dirty tricks used to accumulate their wealth and how they can hide their money whilst the rest of us get hammered by tax via our income and purchase of goods. The music is simple, repetitive, but not dull or boring and it pulls you in along for the ride and it's a ride that I'm enjoying. The bass line to 3rd song 'Sloganeering' instantly reminded me of The Jam and indeed as I was listening to this in the kitchen my 11 year old son came in with a spring in his step. It's the stand out song for me, catchy hooky song that grooves along. Lyrically, it's about bands/artists who talk the talk but don't walk the walk. You know, say all the right things about safe subjects but don't do anything actively to put those views into action. Final song 'Half Mast' is about the futility of war and the pointless murder of people (military personnel and civilians alike) by governments and how powerful bodies, such as the media, are charged with the job of feeding the masses with enough propaganda to justify the murder. The lyric "But there's no time to remember the thousands who fell. Each with a family, a life, a story to tell. Justified in the hatred you felt. But every bullet you fired feels like a bullet you aimed at yourself" it shows how pointless it is, but sadly relevant. Musically like the rest of the songs on this EP it's got an upbeat hooky riff that marches along and grabs you along. To sum up this is a strong debut release that is well recorded and well played, with Mark playing all the instruments as well as vocal duties. All in all a great EP that leaves you wanting to hear more.

This is Declaration Of War...